Girls Soccer: GA posts 2-1 win over Springside CHA

PHILADELPHIA — This is a busy week for Germantown Academy’s girls’ soccer team.

The GA squad closes out its regular season with two final Inter-Ac games and a Pennsylvania Independent School Athletic Association tournament semifinal game scheduled for today — along with a possible PAISAA title game sometime within the next week.

The Patriots started the challenging stretch on a good note when they registered a 2-1 Inter-Ac League win over Springside Chestnut Hill Academy on the Lions’ field.

When the teams played earlier in the season in Fort Washington, GA had to come back to draw even at 2-2 and then scored in the final four minutes to eke out a 3-2 win.

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This time, the Patriots changed the script. They took control early and put two goals on the scoreboard in the first half of the initial period. The Pats’ first scoring play featured a goal by Marley Sternberg off an assist from KerryAnn Lawlor.

“It was a beautiful cross,” said Sternberg, a talented junior forward. “I had one defender to beat. I just ran, turned on the ball and one-timed it.”

Sternberg also played a role in the Patriots’ second scoring play when she assisted on a goal by Nicole Gilmore.

“It was off a corner,” said Gilmore, a veteran senior. “Marley sent the ball across and I just one-touched it in. I didn’t play the whole game today because I’m just coming back from an ankle injury. I usually play center back and today I was center forward.”

The Lions cut the Patriots’ lead in half midway through the second period when Megan McCool assisted on a goal by Sinead Brierly. Even after the SCHA goal, the Patriots retained control of the game with smart passing and good ball control.

“Ball possession and keeping the ball away from McCool — sometimes, it’s just that simple,” said Germantown Academy coach Christopher Nelson. “She is a very good player. I thought we did a very good job of managing the ball and keeping track of it — a good job of maintaining possession.”

Not having to play catch-up also helped.

“The first time we played them, we definitely had possession a lot,” said Sternberg. “But, we had to fight back the whole time. This game, we had a good start. We did have a flat part for awhile but we picked it up and finished strong.”

And now, the busy week continues.

“We’re scheduled to play a (PAISAA) semifinal game Wednesday at The Hill School,” said Nelson, whose team is now 12-5-4. “And then we play Penn Charter on Saturday in a game that will decide second place in the Inter-Ac.”